A Question of Strength Revised
by KawaiixCherryxBlossom
Summary: Ash endures a terrible loss, one which he believes he doesn’t have the strength to pull through. But luckily, somebody is there to catch him when he falls, and bring his spirit back to life.


**A Question of Strength **

**(Revised)**

**By KawaiiCherryBlossom**

Disclaimer:

I do not own Pokémon or its related components.

Summary:

Ash endures a terrible loss, one which he believes he doesn't have the strength to pull through. But luckily, somebody is there to catch him when he falls, and bring his spirit back to life.

Type: Drama/Romance

Rating: PG

Other: AAMRN

Ages:

Ash – 16

Misty – 16

Brock – 18

Notes:

Hi guys! This is the revised version of a fanfic I wrote way back in 2001, when my pen name was BellaWaterFlower. It seems so long ago now, hehe… Well anyway, I hope you'll like the new improved version! And if you haven't read the old version, don't cheat and go read it now!

-

Chapter 1

_Terminal Speed _

It was a cold, dreary day as Ash, Misty and Brock reached the Goldenrod City Pokémon Centre. Excitement glazed over Ash's eyes. He was, of course, thinking about his next gym battle, and receiving his next badge – the Plain Badge. However, before anything else, they had to stop and heal their injured Pokémon. Having not seen anything but trees and bushes for days; they were more than glad to be walking through a city. They tiredly stumbled into the Pokémon Centre, barely able to stand from the exhaustion of walking all day. Brock, of course, turned red at the first sight of Nurse Joy. He didn't even have time to act, however, as he felt a hand on his ear. He turned around to see Misty shaking her head at him, showing that she was too tired to be in the mood.

"Okay, I promise I won't do _anything!"_ he cried. Satisfied with the answer, Misty turned to Ash.

"Well, I guess we'd better heal our Pokémon so we can get to the next gym, right Ash?" she said. Ash nodded.

"Yeah, I can't wait to have another battle. The only ones I've had recently are battles against Team Rocket."

"And we know they're not much of a challenge," Misty said, laughing.

The three handed their Pokémon over to Nurse Joy, who smiled sweetly at them.

"Thank you very much. We'll have your Pokémon ready in about an hour," she explained. Ash nodded.

"Thanks," he turned to his friends. "What do you say we go and get some dinner while our Pokémon are being healed? I saw a really nice burger place when we were walking into town!"

"That'd be great," Misty agreed, nodding.

"Yeah, I'm starving", Brock added.

"Oh!" Nurse Joy said, as if suddenly remembering something. "Before you go, do any of you know a young man by the name of Ash Ketchum?" Ash looked at her strangely.

"Yeah…that's me…" he said slowly. Joy gasped.

"Oh my gosh! Thank goodness I've found you!" she said as she opened a drawer and rustled through it.

"Huh…?" Ash said, confused. Joy pulled out a piece of paper victoriously.

"I have a message for you from Professor Oak. He told me that it was extremely important, and he knew you'd be passing through here so he left it with me."

Ash took the note.

_'What could be so important that Professor Oak couldn't wait until I called him…?' _Ash wondered. Shaking his head of his thoughts, he read the note to himself.

_Ash,_

_I need you to come to __Pallet__Town__ immediately. Your mom is sick. She collapsed and has been put in hospital. The doctors are unsure as to what is wrong. I don't want to worry you, but I think you should come right away. See you soon._

_- Professor Oak_

"Ash, what's wrong?" Misty asked worriedly. He hadn't looked up from reading the note; he was just staring at it. Ash finally looked up, his eyes completely overpowered by worry.

"I have to go back," he said, slinging his backpack over his shoulders.

"Back where?" Brock asked.

"To Pallet," he said, turning to walk away.

"Ash!" Misty called, grabbing his arm. "You're not making any sense! What's going on?" Ash turned, tears forming in his eyes.

"It's my mom, she's in hospital and I have to go back!"

"What? What happened?" Brock asked.

"I…I don't know… I have to go, now," Ash said impatiently, turning on his heel once again and starting towards the door.

"Ash, wait!" Misty called. Ash paused.

"Let me come with you. Brock can bring our Pokémon when they're ready, and you don't really want to be by yourself, do you?" Misty asked. Ash looked unsure.

"You don't have to, Misty…" Misty shook her head.

"I want to. At least you'll have some company…" she replied kindly. Ash nodded.

"Okay. Thanks…" he said gratefully, blushing slightly.

"That okay, Brock?" Misty asked him. Brock nodded and took out his wallet.

"Here," he said, handing them a wad of bills. "Go to the airport and catch the next flight to Pallet. I'll meet you there as soon as I can."

"But Brock…that was the money you were saving to buy that new book series about Pokémon Breeding… I can't take that…" Ash said. Brock shook his head.

"This is more important, Ash. Now hurry, go," he said kindly. Ash nodded thankfully.

"Thanks a lot, Brock", he said, before rushing out of the Pokémon Centre, Misty following closely behind him.

-

Ash and Misty arrived at the airport about twenty minutes later, and luckily there was a plane flying to Pallet right away.

It was dark as the plane flew swiftly through the air. It would take about four hours for them to fly to Pallet. Ash and Misty sat beside each other silently. Ash's thoughts were overpowered with worry for his mother. Misty glanced over to him every few seconds, wondering what she could do to help.

"Are you okay, Ash?" she asked, though she knew it was a stupid question.

"I just…have a really bad feeling…" he said quietly. He was so serious, a stark contrast to his usual manner.

"Just remember Ash, Brock and I will be here for you no matter what happens, okay?" she said, a gentle, soothing tone to her voice. Ash nodded slightly.

"I know. Thanks," he replied. She smiled at him slightly as they both fell silent once again.

'_He's so worried… What can I do to take his mind off of the situation…?' _Misty pondered. '_Oh, wait, I know!'_

"Ash, do you remember when we first met?" Ash turned his head to look at her.

"Of course I do," he replied as a small smile crossed his face. "How could I forget?"

"You had no idea what you were doing and you were so immature!" she said, laughing slightly. Ash got ready to fire back, but halted.

"Yeah, I guess I was a little immature…" he admitted sheepishly. Misty rose an eyebrow, both at his reply and at the fact that he hadn't fired back a sarcastic remark.

"A little?"

"Okay, maybe a lot!" he replied, a slight smile gracing his face.

"And what about when Sabrina turned us into dolls. THAT was the scariest moment of my life," Misty remembered, a slight look of dread crossing her face at the memory.

"I don't WANT to remember," he replied with a shudder.

"Giselle at Pokémon Tech, remember when you got really mad because everyone liked her?"

"That's right! I can't stand people who love themselves!"

"Me too. That's part of the reason why I can't stand Gary…" Ash said, touching on a subject that he didn't often speak of.

"So…why are you and Gary on such bad terms? I would've thought that, coming from such a small town, the two of you would be good friends…" she replied, leaning into the subject, since she wasn't sure if Ash wanted to talk about it.

"We were best friends, ever since we were born. We were like twins," he explained. Misty nodded.

"What changed?"

"Gary did. When he started getting into Pokémon, he started to become more competitive. Of course, his grandfather is a Professor and he always used that to his advantage. So we started to see less and less of each other, and when we did see each other, it wasn't so good. Gary used to totally ignore me and just use me to taunt, so the other kids would think he was cool."

"That's awful…" she commented. "But Ash…"

"Yeah?" he asked, glancing up at her. Misty wished he hadn't, since a slight blush was creeping across her face.

"Well…Brock and I… We'll always be your friends…like…forever," she said, nervously stammering over her words. Ash smiled.

"Thanks."

-

Ash and Misty reached Pallet Town General Hospital at 12:10 pm. Ash wasted no time as he ran through the glass doors until he reached the front desk, Misty right behind him.

"Excuse me, but where can I find Deliah Ketchum?" he asked hurriedly.

The nurse at the desk typed something into her computer, her bright blue eyes fixed on the screen.

"She's on floor 2, but I'm sorry, you can only go in if you're immediate family," she explained, flicking her long, dark hair behind her back.

"I'm her son," Ash explained.

"And are you related to Mrs. Ketchum as well?" she asked Misty. Panic invaded Misty's eyes as she stammered.

"Well…I…uh…"

"She's uh…my girlfriend!" Ash blurted out.

Misty glanced at Ash questioningly, but he ignored her.

"Oh! What a cute couple!" the nurse commented. "Your mother is in room 110, go on through."

A blush crossed both Ash and Misty's cheeks and they looked away, before Ash sped towards the elevators. Misty quickly followed behind him. The two waited in an uncomfortable silence for the elevator to reach them, and stepped inside when it did. Ash pressed the button that would take them to floor 2, and they waited as the elevator lurched and moved up.

"Hey Misty… I'm sorry about that," Ash said quietly.

"About what?"

"Calling you my girlfriend. I just don't want to be in here alone…" Misty hoped she wasn't blushing as she shook her head.

"It's okay Ash. I would've done the same thing." Ash smiled weakly at her, a blush crossing his own face.

_'If only I was your girlfriend…' _Misty thought to herself as she hid a sigh.

A 'ding' sounded, telling Ash and Misty that they had reached the second floor. They stepped out of the elevator and walked down the corridor, a wave of nervousness and dread overcoming Ash.

"Are you alright?" Misty asked him, her voice gentle and caring. Ash nodded slightly.

"Yeah…"

-

As Ash and Misty arrived in the doorway of room 110, a doctor stood examining the contents of a folder. He was quite short, with dark hair and dark eyes. Deliah lay in a hospital bed, seemingly enveloped by white. White curtains, white walls, white sheets…

"Ash!" Deliah called out as she saw him.

Ash ran to her bedside, his eyes full of concern. She threw her arms around him lovingly, and they embraced in a scene that nearly brought Misty to tears.

"Mom… What happened? What's wrong?" Ash asked anxiously. Now that he was closer to her, he noticed how sick she really did look. Her complexion was unhealthily white, her eyes vacant of most of their life. The dark circles under her eyes showed her tiredness and her hands were shaking as she reached up to ruffle Ash's hair affectionately.

"I'll be fine, sweetie. The doctor just had to run a few tests. He's going to tell me the results right now," she said, pouring optimism into her tone to reassure her worried son. It seemed to work, somewhat, as he sat on the chair next to her bed, taking hold of his mother's hand. As Dr. Filan looked over the notes in his folder once more, Ash signalled to Misty to come into the room. He found himself needing her support now more than ever.

"Hi, Mrs. Ketchum," she said politely.

"Oh, hello Misty. How are you dear?"

"I'm fine thank you," Misty replied, a worried look in her eyes. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling fine, thank you Misty."

Misty nodded unsurely and sat next to Ash. He smiled at her thankfully and she nodded back. Deliah glanced at them, a knowing look crossing her face.

"Your tests have confirmed the reason why you have been feeling unwell lately. I wish I could tell you that it's good news, but I'm afraid it isn't…" he explained, his eyes and voice sad.

Deliah nodded sadly. Tears sprung to Ash's eyes as he squeezed his mother's hand tightly.

"You have a tumour on your brain… It has been lying dormant for quite some time now, but has recently begun to spread. Unfortunately it is at quite a late stage, having already invaded your tissues and blood vessels, and entered your bloodstream. That is what caused you to black out, and feel tired and light-headed all the time."

"Oh my God…" Deliah murmured.

"Well isn't there some kind of treatment?" Ash asked pleadingly, wanting desperately for the answer to be yes.

"I'm sorry…" Dr. Filan replied sadly. "But the tumour is in such a late stage of its development, that there is nothing we can do… I'm very sorry…"

"What are you saying?" Ash asked angrily.

"The tumour is malignant. It has been for some time now…"

"No! You can't tell me my mom is going to die!" Ash rose from his seat, angry tears forming in his eyes.

"I'm so sorry…" Dr. Filan said once more.

"Ash, sweetie…" Deliah said soothingly. He stood back, a wave of helplessness washing over him. His tears began to fall, dropping down his cheeks, just as the hope in his heart was falling from its grace.

"How long do I have, doctor?" Deliah asked, remaining calm.

"It's hard to say… It's most probably weeks…" he replied forlornly.

"Thank you, doctor," she said, and Dr. Filan nodded, before leaving the room.

All was silent. Deliah bowed her head as tears began to fall out of her eyes. Ash stood in the centre of the room, seemingly frozen. He stared ahead at the white wall, hoping with all his heart that this was one long, painful nightmare.

_'I'll wake up soon, I'll wake up soon…' _he told himself over and over as he closed his eyes and balled up his fists. But as his nails dug into his skin, he realised that he wouldn't be able to feel pain if this was a nightmare.

"Mom…" he stammered through tears as he turned and walked back to her bedside. She pulled him into an embrace as he was overcome by tears.

"It'll be okay, sweetie… It'll be okay…" she said soothingly through her tears as she rubbed his back gently.

Misty closed her eyes as her tears slipped down her cheeks.

_'Why…?' _she asked herself, knowing that there was no answer capable of fulfilling the question. No answer capable of justifying the means.

_To be continued…_

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, even though it's quite awfully written because I have writer's block. :S I'll have the next chapter out as soon as I can. Oh, and I'm sorry if the technical doctor stuff didn't make sense! I'm not sure if it's accurate, I'm no doctor. Thankfully, says everyone. ;;

Love and light,

Sarah.

"Love is always patient and kind. It is never jealous.  
Love is never boastful or conceited. It is never rude or selfish.  
It does not take offence, and is not resentful.  
Love takes no pleasure in other people's sins, but delights in the truth.  
It is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope,  
And to endure whatever comes."  
  
1 Corinthians: 13, 14 4-8


End file.
